We are excited to announce our in-person 2023 New York State YMCA Advocacy Days, beginning with a dinner event at 5:30PM on February 6th and legislative visits at the State Capitol on February 7th! Advocacy continues to be a top priority for the Alliance and we will focus our efforts on key priority issues, as well as building and maintaining relationships with elected officials. Together, we will ensure that Governor Hochul and State Legislators understand the value of the YMCA to all New Yorkers!
Questions? Kindly contact Belinda Heckler, Director of Public Policy, at bheckler@ymcanys.org. A detailed agenda and other resources will be available soon, so stay tuned!
For 2023 YMCA Advocacy Days, the Alliance will schedule meetings with your elected officials on your behalf. The Google Calendar link below will help us track all of the appointments and show you the current schedule of confirmed meetings. This link will be updated regularly as appointments are confirmed, and we will work with you to ensure availability from your YMCA. We encourage participation from CEOs, staff, volunteers, and youth!
Google YMCA Virtual Advocacy Day Zoom Schedule https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FwObV2dB5R9ilM7d94XsGMCbHboge4mU6KxwhrHqF8g/edit?usp=sharing
In addition, please update the Advocacy Liaison email list for 2023 below. The Alliance uses this list to reach out to YMCAs to communicate grassroots advocacy action requests during the month. During February, we will issue “Take Action” campaigns, which will ask YMCAs to tweet a message to their legislators and/or to send them a customizable letter asking for the support. Please be sure to identify a person at your Y, who will be responsible for sending these letters and submit tweets to show their support.
As a reminder, the best way to grow our collective voice is to have each YMCA designate at least one person as their Advocacy Liaison because numbers matter. The more people who add their voice to advance our mission, the more successful we will be. There are hundreds of vying interests in Albany competing for funding, and the best way to stand out is to have the largest and the loudest organized effort!
Advocacy Liaison List 2023 here
Important Advocacy Resources
Sessioncalendar_2023.pdf (nyassembly.gov)
2023 Budget Ask – Letter to the Governor
Questions?
Contact Belinda Heckler, Director of Public Policy, at bheckler@ymcanys.org